Social networking Web sites have gone mainstream and a variety of companies ranging from resorts to apparel are utilizing this no- to low-cost marketing tool. Why social media? According to Forrester Research, the use of social networking by those aged 35 to 54 has grown 60% in the last year (Source: Groundswell, “Social Technology Growth Marches on in 2009, Led by Social Network Sites,” by Josh Bernoff, August 25, 2009) and in many cases this is the age-range tourism businesses are targeting.
Tourism businesses including hotels, attractions, restaurants, and destinations not already utilizing social media should get into the social networking game with a strategy as soon as possible. This strategy should include participation in five primary sites: TripAdvisor, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr.
Why Should Tourism Businesses Utilize TripAdvisor?
The world’s largest travel community attracts more than 36 million visitors monthly (Source: TripAdvisor.com, July 2009). One of the activities community members can do is post reviews about hotels, attractions, and restaurants. This allows businesses to monitor what is being said to strengthen weaknesses and maintain and improve what visitors like. TripAdvisor allows businesses to reply to comments through the Management Response feature. Doing this fosters social media transparency and is ethical as compared to impersonating a visitor and posting a positive comment. TripAdvisor does not tolerate that type of behavior.
Why Should Tourism Businesses Utilize Facebook?
As of October 2009, Facebook estimates having more than 300 million active users and half of those users log onto the social networking site a day. Those 35 years-old and older are the fastest growing demographic and more than 10 million users become fans of Pages on a daily basis. (Source: Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistic, October 20, 2009.)
Creating a Facebook Fan Page allows hotels, attractions, destinations and other tourism businesses to create photo and video galleries, post events and notes of interest, interact with past and potential visitors, and fosters interaction with fans. Everyone loves sharing about their vacation and when past visitors post positive photos and comments, it is a genuine third-party endorsement which may encourage others to visit.
Why Should Tourism Businesses Utilize Twitter?
The microblogging site asks “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less and as of October 2009 has seen 200% growth of new users over 2008 (Source: Quantcast.com/twitter). Twitter allows tourism businesses to test ideas, interact in a casual and fun manner through avenues such as contests and offering coupons (for example, through twtQpon.com) and push information out such as media releases, events, and photos. Twitter is also a marketing tool to listen to what the customer is saying and provides an opportunity to immediately react.
Why Should Tourism Businesses Utilize YouTube?
YouTube is not the only video-sharing Web site on the Internet but it receives the most visitors. According to a March 4, 2009, press release issued by Comscore.com, YouTube surpassed 100 million viewers for the month of January 2009 (Source: Comscore.com, “YouTube Surpasses 100 Million U.S. Viewers for the First Time”, March 4, 2009). Tourism businesses can upload professionally produced videos or user-generated content created with simple camcorders such as the Flip video camera to share with potential visitors.
Why Should Tourism Businesses Utilize Flickr?
The photo-sharing site allows tourism businesses to create groups which can be used for contests, testing new creative ideas, and building an image bank. When uploading images it is important to add tags and utilize the geotagging option which shows images on the public Flickr map. A dynamic image may intrigue a potential visitor to plan a vacation so it is important the image has an appropriate description so said visitor can find the business.
Additional Social Networking Tips for Tourism Businesses
Fully complete profile information including Web site address, description, and tags in order to drive traffic to a specific site and to rank high in search engine results.
Tourism business owners should register for Google Alerts in order to monitor what blogs and media outlets are saying about them.
There are hundreds of social networking sites tourism businesses can engage but when just beginning, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr are excellent starting sites.You might also like…
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